Dean-zan
by The Dragon and the Hare
Summary: On a parallel Earth, Angels are the dominant species on the planet. Humans are enslaved, forced to build the magnificent cities that hang in the skies, and are hunted as sport and slaughtered in the millions. Castiel joins a group of renegade Angels to protect one of the few Human settlements left. There he meets Dean-zan, the leader of the tribe.


**A/N: This is also being uploaded to AO3 under the same name (of fic and username). For earlier updates, check there.**

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"Humans," Uriel began, speaking slowly, "Are _savages._" With a wave of his hand, the light in the room dimmed, and the projector turned itself on. The blank screen behind him was suddenly filled with a grotesque image: it was hand-drawn, not a photograph, and it depicted two Human males goring each other to death. Blood spilled from terrible wounds and stained the ground beneath them red.

"They are violent," he continued, and the word dissolved into the picture to caption it. "They will not miss an opportunity to harm or kill each other, or fellow creatures."

The Angel waved his hand again, and the projector went onto the next image. It showed several Humans looking very confused and some starting to get violent as an Angel tried to teach them. "They are dimwitted," Uriel said, and the words 'low intelligence' appeared underneath the image.

The projector moved on. The image showed Humans walking around a desolate area in their bare skin, looking, once more, confused. "They have no dignity." The word 'undignified' appeared. "Which brings us all the way back to the point of _savagery,_" Uriel said, rounding the section up.

Castiel couldn't help but roll his eyes as Uriel continued onto the uses for Humans, all of which could be put under the term 'slavery'. Looking around the darkened auditorium, a product of Human slavery, he could see all of the other Angels listening intently, but none with so much attention as Lucifer. He was leaning in his front row seat, focusing all of his attention on Uriel's preaching.

Uriel went on to the different ways of killing Humans, 'to keep the population under control'. He talked about the Angel Supremacists who liked to go hunting for Humans out in the wild. There were few places left in the world that the Angels hadn't explored, and thus few places Humans found peace from the harassment from Angels. The lecture was rounded up with Uriel saying that a hunting party was being organized for a few weeks ahead.

"I have a signup sheet here," the Elder Angel said, holding the piece of paper up. "I will keep it in my office for those who wish to participate."

Castiel could almost see Lucifer's ears prick up at the mention.

Castiel couldn't understand why he was supposed to hate Humans. What made them so different, so… inferior? His rather lacklustre enthusiasm had already made him somewhat of an outcast among the other Angels. If he made his views public, he _would_ actually get cast out, banished from his home – it had happened to other Angels in the past, those who had went against the flock. It hadn't happened for a while, though, and he loved his brothers and sisters deeply, and he didn't want to leave them.

He could remember when Anna had been banished, and the pain that had lingered long after – he'd only been young at the time, just a few centuries old when it happened. She had raised him from an Angeling, although he never called her 'mother' (that title was reserved for Eve, the mother of all Angels), but 'sister', and he always referred to her as such. The pain had been much for his young mind, and he had rebelled against most of the older Angels for many decades, though he never revealed what he truly thought.

He was in no fit shape to look after himself, in any environment at that stage. He had been shuffled around many of his older siblings, Brothers and Sisters he wasn't aware of until he met them. They all taught him different things, although all along the line of 'Humans are bad!' He never forgot Anna's teachings, though. She found Human's fascinating, and was always finding holes in the common logic that was applied to them.

He could remember the night she had been cast out well.

"_They aren't emotionless beings," she had said to him, flipping through the pages of one of her books. "And they're smart. Perhaps even smarter than us." She had stopped on a particular page, but he didn't see which one. "The Angels are the bad guys, Cas. We have to make amends… and we have to stop the others."_

_She went real quiet when she finished that sentence, and for a few moments, Castiel didn't know why. Anna looked like she was concentrating, her head tilted to one side, making her red hair fall into her face, though she didn't notice. But then Castiel heard it, too: a thumping, growing louder and louder as it neared. Fear and panic had suddenly washed over Anna's face, and she slammed the book shut._

"_Oh no…"_

"_Anna?" Castiel said, frightened as the ground began to shake. She ignored him for a few moments as she ran around their small dwelling snatching up her small, but incriminating book collection, and throwing it all into a box._

"_Castiel, I need you to listen to me, it's important," she said when she had finished, the books hidden away. The young Castiel nodded his head quickly. She kneeled down and placed her hands on his shoulders, all previous fear suddenly gone from her face. "I'll be fine. Whatever happens, keep on this path. When it is time, Gabriel will come to you."_

"_Gabriel?"_

_She didn't answer him, only placing a finger to her lips the moment before the door was forced open._

Anna hadn't fought against her captors. She had gone with them silently after she was allowed to give Castiel a final hug. The next morning was a public banishing, many Angels gathering in the town to watch. He hadn't been tall enough to see over their shoulders, but her lingering scream as she fell to Earth remained a useful tool in his nightmares.

"Castiel…" Balthazar said slowly. "Why do you bury yourself in those books?"

Castiel didn't move from his position, only shifted his eyes upward to look at his brother. "I find them interesting," he replied simply, and looked back down. He heard Balthazar sigh among the other talking of Angels in the crowded room.

"You shouldn't be reading those in public," he tried again, leaning back in his chair.

"No one's looking," Castiel said without looking up.

Balthazar gave a shrug and put his hands behind his head has he gave up his feeble attempts. He didn't contain the same hatred for Humans as nearly all his siblings did, but he didn't care for them, either. Not like Cas did, anyhow. Certainly not enough to pay attention in class, and definitely not enough to read those books that Cas owned. He firmly believed that Angels should keep to themselves and not bother with anything-

The point of a paper airplane suddenly hit the side of his face.

"Alright, who threw that?!" Balthazar yelled, standing up right and addressing all within the room.

The plane came to a stop in front of Cas, who picked it up and looked at it curiously The Angels all stopped their conversations and looked over to Balthazar in confusion. No one confessed.

"There are instructions on this paper aircraft," Castiel whispered as Balthazar sat down again and the talking started up again. "Someone else has knowledge of my interests, and it interests them in turn." Balthazar grabbed the plane from him. "A meeting is requested."

"Well, isn't this exci- Hang on! They want to meet me, too! They believe I share the same consideration for Humans as you do!" Balthazar whispered angrily, beginning to scrunch up the paper into a ball to throw it away, but Castiel took it back.

"'I shall reveal more if we meet,'" he quoted, scanning the rest of the sentence. "It's been signed with a 'G'."

"Yes, I saw that, too. Do you seriously want to go meet this guy?"

Castiel thought about it, staring at the paper. He thought about Anna, and Gabriel, and that group of renegade Angels that Anna had whispered about in the night. He thought about the prejudice and the unfair treatment of human beings, and how it filled him with the now familiar emotions of anger and confusion.

"I'm going," Cas says, stashing the paper away in a pocket. "And you're going too."

"But Caaaas!" Balthazar whined, dragging his feet as Castiel pulled him off. "I like my life up here! Sure, I think it's unfair that it was built upon the bodies of humans, but they're all long dead now! Why does it matter?"

"It matters because the injustice is still happening! Angels claim to be superior, but how are we when we treat the beings we call lesser so? Sure, the humans that built your home are long gone now, but that doesn't mean that their grandchildren are still suffering, building our cities for us! The few human tribes that are still free live in fear that they and their children will be enslaved and tortured just for being _human_. I'm not sure I can live with that knowledge and not do something," Cas whispers as they leave the library into the empty hall.

Balthazar groaned as Castiel plead to him. "You make a very convincing argument, but… come on, Cas!"

"Please, brother! Don't tell me that it doesn't leave _any_ impression on you in any way. Stand by me on this."

"Damnit, Cas! Don't give me those puppy dog eyes!" Balthazar looks away, but he can still feel that intense blue glare. He groaned again. "Oh, fine! I'll give up my entire, carefree life for you."

"Thank you, brother," Castiel said, pulling him into a hug.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's not make this any harder than it has to be. When and where are we meeting this guy?" Balthazar replied, pushing him away.

"As soon as the moon rises under the big archway by the fountain."


End file.
